


Sleeping Arrangements

by loisselina (LoisSelina)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Asthma, F/M, Foster Care, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Gen, High School Student David Nolan, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Parent Captain Hook | Killian Jones, Parent Wishverse Captain Hook| Detective Rogers, Sick Character, Teenage David, artistic David, foster parent Killian Rogers, slow burn Hooked Queen, teen runaway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2019-08-27 12:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16702666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoisSelina/pseuds/loisselina
Summary: Killian Rogers is a detective whose life revolves around work and hanging out with his best friend, and often friends with benefits, Regina Mills. How will he cope when his life become entangled with troubled, runaway teen, David's? When Killian takes the risk of deciding to foster David his organised life get turned upside down, changing both his entire outlook and his relationship with Regina, and David finds himself in a position he has not been in before.





	1. Chapter 1

“Shit.” That was Killian Rogers’ first words when he woke up naked next to a beautiful woman on a bed with silk sheets. 

Regina woke with a yawn. “What’s wrong?” 

“It’s already nearly seven, I told Weaver I’d be there on time today, I have about forty minutes to get there.” 

“Tell him you’ll be late.” She threw her arm over his waist, she tilted her head back to kiss his neck, trying her best to leave her mark against his dark stubble covered jawline. 

Killian let out a regretful groan. “He’ll kill me.” He turned his head to kiss her cheek before getting up and grabbing his carelessly abandoned clothes from the ground. “We’re still on for movie night on friday, though, right?” 

“Of course.” Regina pushed herself to sit up wrapping a sheet around herself. “Remember it’s at your apartment, that means you need to get snacks too.” 

Killian rolled his eyes and smirked at his friend. “Yes ma’am.” 

“Something healthy too.” She smiled. She liked their set up, he was her best friend in the world, both she and Killian hadn’t dated for a while and whenever they weren’t in relationships they they were friends with benefits. “Sure you don’t have time for breakfast?” 

“Urgh, I wish.” He finally finished doing up the buttons of his shirt. 

“I don’t have to go in for a couple of hours.” Regina smirked

“I’ll swap you.” Killian grumbled quickly checking to see that he had everything. “I’ll see you Friday!” 

“Take a vacation!” She called after him. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Despite running a little late, for Weaver’s standards rather than for his actual shift, Killian picked up two drinks from the coffee shop, one to appease his partner. 

As always the station smelt mostly of old coffee, sweat, and the strong chemicals which were meant to cover the former up. There was the constant chatter, the typing of keyboards, and the complaining of perps, he had to walk through all of that to get to his and Weaver’s office, he took a big swig of his coffee, only focused on getting to his desk and drinking even more coffee. 

But a sight at one of the desks caught his eye. Detective Nash was questioning a young man, annoyed at whatever he was saying, but the detective clearly wasn’t noticing that the perp was sneaking a pen off of Nash’s desk as he was annoying him.   
Killian had learnt how something something small like a pen could be dangerous, he could use it as a weapon, against himself or one of them, or could try and use it to get out of the cuffs his hand was in.    
Killian sighed and balanced the cups on top of one another, in one hand. He placed his other hand down onto the lad’s shoulder. 

“Drop the pen.” He said in a low voice. 

He jumped, dropping the pen without meaning to, and looked towards the englishman who snatched it up. 

Killian was a little surprised to see that he looked a lot younger than he expected, a teenager, not a man. And although his clothes made him look a bit bigger his face was gaunt and pale, a little too pale in Killian’s eyes but it wasn’t really his problem. A pair bright blue eyes stood out against his otherwise light features. “Good lad.” 

“I wasn’t going to do anything with it.” 

“How old are you?” Detective Nash asked yet again, this time through gritted teeth, he was sick of him wasting his time, when he could be working on big cases.

“One hundred and two.” 

“He won’t tell me his age. He _never_ has told me his age.” Nash grumbled, looking to Killian, he was as happy as ever.

Killian fixed the handcuffed young man with a look, one he had perfected over the years as a cop and as a foster carer, he watched him slump down in his seat with a small subconscious pout, and Killian felt a little proud.

“I’m eighteen.” 

“Hmm.” Killian wasn’t sure he totally believed that but Nash was writing it on the screen. “Why’d you want the pen if you weren’t going to do anything with it?”

David shrugged. “Maybe I wanted to draw.”

“Sure you did, Picasso.” 

“Not really my style, I’m more of a Di Vinci, art style and brains.” 

Killian rolled his eyes but he realised that his dark baggy jeans weren’t black but a worn grey, they looked black because they were covered in tiny black drawings, which must have been drawn by the lad. 

“Is he being charged?” 

Nash, Killian, and the perp all jumped at the other Brit's voice.

Killian was surprised that Weaver came out of the office and was taking an interest in a case which wasn’t his own. He allowed him to take the cardboard cup of tea, he kept the pen in his hand, and his eyes on the kid.

Nash let out a deep sigh. “No.. I don’t have enough evidence, he gets away with it again.”

“With what?” 

“Shoplifting and tagging… we searched for the stuff, but... This little bastard is getting away with it again.” He sighed glaring at the younger man.  “Looks like it’s your lucky day,  _ James _ .” 

If Killian didn’t know better he would have said that Weaver looked proud as Nash practically growled that. He watched Nash uncuff him and pass him over a smashed cell phone and a see through police bag with his other belongings. 

James stood up, he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, he was not a fan of cops.  

“Hey.” Killian called after him making him stop and turn around. Killian didn’t believe that he was 18, there was no way, but Nash had clearly dealt with him before and believed that he was an adult, and truth be told Killian was just a little too tired. He threw the pen to him and he caught it. “You should find some paper, instead of your jeans, I’m sure your parents would have told you that.” 

He pocketed the pen before scarpering. 

  
  


* * *

  
  
  


After his shift Killian went straight to his local store, saying hi to the owner he always saw there, he collected some snacks and drinks for his and Regina’s movie night, and just to have in. 

“Thanks Marcus.” He said, the grocessies beeping as they were scanned and placed into a bag for Killian. He handed over the green notes and heard the door buzz as someone hurried out. He saw the dirty blonde hair and familiar outfit and he suddenly remembered the young man from that morning. 

Marcus sighed. 

Killian’s head snapped back to him. “What’s wrong? Did he he steal them?”

Marcus shook his head at Killian’s police tone. “No, well, yes, I don’t want you going after him, I would give it to him for free if he asked, he’s just a kid.”

Marcus sounded sad at that, Killian realised that he was sad at that too, he was a kid, like he had thought earlier, but why was he stealing food? “Thanks, Marcus, I’ll see you around.” 

He rushed out of the store to try and avoid the pouring rain, he dumped his groceries in the trunk of his car, before climbing into the car and trying to warm up slightly before heading to track and figure out the little shoplifter.

  
  


* * *

 

 

He expected to be led to some normal block of apartments, perhaps stealing for a thrill or for attention, but he came to a stop at an abandoned factory or warehouse. He parked his car next to the building he had watched the teen go into, making sure he had his badge, gun, and flashlight, he headed inside.

 

* * *

 

 

It was already dark outside but somehow it felt darker and colder inside the condemned building. The air was stale and there was a dripping noise, he clicked the ten pound flashlight on and saw water pouring and dripping onto the concrete floor from pipes above and holes in the roof. Wind whistled through the broken windows, the paint left on the walls was flaked and peeling, there were tens of empty beer cans and smashed glass bottles from some years gone parties. He flicked a light switch on the wall but clearly the power was off. Why the hell had he come here?

“Hello?” He called out, he slowly turned around the big room, his light illuminating empty pallets and some left over of whatever was manufactured there. “James? I’m Detective Rogers, Killian, we met earlier, I gave you the pen, remember? You’re not in trouble, I promise, I just want to make sure you’re okay, you were looking a little under the weather earlier.” His light hit a half wall of wooden pallets and he swore he saw a little movement behind there. “James? Are you behind these pallets? I’m heading closer to you, I think.” He slowly moved closer to the pallets talking as he did. 

The teenager was sat with his knees pulled to his chest, his eyes full of fear, like a deer in headlights. There was a small loaf of bread, and a bottle of juice which had been drunk a little. He was on a bed made from pallets, several flattened cardboard boxes,  and a couple of blankets, there was a backpack which was clearly being doubled as a pillow.

Killian felt his heart break seeing him that scared, he was shivering and pale and he was completely soaked through from the rain, but Killian wasn’t sure if that was purely fear or if he was sick, he had looked ill earlier but sometimes that was just what guilty people looked like. He lowered the flashlight so that it wasn’t glaring in his face. Killian crouched down. “It’s okay James, you’re not in trouble for taking those, 

“‘S’not James.” He mumbled mostly out of habit.

“Huh?” 

“James is my brother, I’m David, not James.” 

“Oh, okay, okay David, I’m Killian… Is your brother here too?”

David shook his head. ”He’s at his foster carers.” 

“You’re not both in the same place?” He watched him shake his head again. He examined him silently with his eyes for a minute. “So, you’re obviously not eighteen, how old are you kid?”

David hesitated before speaking, the cop wasn’t giving off any vibes which made him want to run, and truthfully he didn’t feel up to running anyway. He could feel himself shaking and he tried to force himself not to cough but that didn’t happen. “F-Fifthteen.” 

Killian sighed. “Why didn’t you say something at the station, we could have gotten hold of your social worker or foster carer-”

“I’m not going back to that home!” 

Killian held his hands up in a surrendering gesture. “It’s okay, son, it’s okay.”

“I’m not your son.” His quip’s bite was taken away as he coughed and wheezed through the statement. 

“Just breathe, lad, slow deep breaths. You don’t have to go back there I promise. Look at me.” He waited for David to look at him, his blue eyes had watered up from the coughing fit, and Killian surprised even himself as he swiftly yet gently wiped it, then felt for a fever.    
“I promise you you’re not going back there, I know you don’t know me, but I swear that you will not be anywhere unsafe. But it’s unsafe for you here, it’s not a home for anyone let alone a kid, and you’re clearly sick.”    
He waited for his words to sink in for the teen as best they could while David was sick.    
“I can’t leave you here, buddy, but I’m also not letting you go somewhere which isn’t safe, will you come with me to the station, we can figure this out, I’ll find a solution.” 

David knew that one way or another he would be leaving that place. He wasn’t sure if he could trust this guy or not, his promise seemed earnest, but David had been burnt before. His chest burnt and he was so cold he couldn’t feel his feet or much else. 

He reluctantly agreed and grabbed his backpack, the cop kept his hand on his shoulder as he led the way to the car, clearly not trusting him not to do a runner, despite the heat being on full in the car David shivered as they drove to the station.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

“You got him!” Nash was packing up his stuff as it was the end of his shift when he saw the young man, who had been the bane of his working life, following his colleague into the station. “What did you get him on?”

Killian sighed at Detective Nash’s excitement. He came to a pause but kept his hand on David’s shaking shoulder, the kid was keeping his eyes down, not even reacting to Nash like he had been earlier. “Nothing. He didn’t break a crime.”

“Then why’s he here, for his _pleasant_ company?”

“Because he’s not eighteen, he’s fifteen, he’s a kid. I’m helping him.” Killian snapped, he saw Nash look surprised, he clearly wasn’t a very good detective if he had thought David was an adult, but it was hard to stay mad at him when he himself hadn’t been bothered to step in as it wasn’t ‘his problem’ earlier on. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Nash, come on kid, head to my office.”

“Do you ever take a break?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Killian wasn’t too surprised to see Weaver still there, he wasn’t sure he even had a home he always just seemed to be in the office, however he could see that Weaver was surprised to see him there with a teenager. “This is David, I’m helping him, I just need to make some calls… can you keep an eye on him.”

“Of course.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Well I don’t want you dying on my watch, so you’re having one. Here sit on the couch, I’ll find you some clothes which aren’t soaked through.” He directed David to sit on the couch placing it beside David so the teenager could keep himself warm, he found his gym bag and a towel from inside of it, he passed it to David along with a granola bar from inside. “Here, dry yourself up, I’ll be back in a couple of minutes, Weaver will get you anything you need.”

David rolled his eyes but it was without heat. He took the towel and scrubbed at his long dirty hair, the office was warm, probably warmer than any place he had been in recently. “Thanks.” He mumbled, his voice had gone all high, he cleared his throat. “I mean, thanks.”

“It’s okay.” He looked between the sick teenager and his partner, he didn’t really want to leave David there, he didn’t think he was going to run away, but he didn’t want anything to happen to the kid, he was sick and clearly had no one to care for him.

“We’ll be fine, Killian.” Weaver soft voice was uncharacteristically gentle.

Killian nodded. “Right. Of course. Thanks.”

 

* * *

 

 

Killian wasn’t gone too long, as he was grabbing a sweatshirt and sweatpants he made the phone call to CPS, he knew the right things to say to get through to David’s social worker, all the while something was in the back of his head, a thought which hadn’t yet turned into an idea. He managed to get the social worker to come out to them as quickly as he could, not even giving himself time to mull on his own thoughts before hurrying back to his office, it wasn’t that he didn’t trust Weaver, he just felt responsible for David, for the time being at least.

 

* * *

 

 

What he didn’t expect, when he got back to the office, was David and Weaver sat on the couch eating pizza and drinking sodas from take away cups, David was looking guarded and had jumped when Killian had opened the door. Killian gave him a closed mouth smile and held up the clothes he had scavenged. “Here.”   
He opened his mouth quickly when David went to drop the pizza, something which a runaway doing surprised Killian, he had expected him to eat it quicker if anything.   
“For when you’ve finished eating that slice, then you can grab more if that’s alright with Weaver, you look like you could do with a good meal in you.”

David finished the slice of meat feast pizza and took the clothes, he didn’t move far, just to a slightly shielded part of the room, in the corner, he changed as quickly as he could which wasn’t helped by yet another small coughing fit.

Both Killian and Weaver looked automatically to the boy, they were both wearing worried looks, though David hadn’t been particularly charming to them they had grown to care for him even in such a short space of time. When they glanced over, however, they were met by a sight which made them both struggle not to react: David was pulled down the sweater but his ribs were clearly sticking out from malnutrition, and were covered in cuts and bruises, they had no idea how he got them. They both shared a look but quickly looked away so David wouldn’t know they had seen, they’d have to talk to his social worker about them though.

David balled up his own clothes and went to shove them back into his backpack but remembered that they were still damp so walked back to the couch with them in his arms.

“Here, I’ll put them in a bag until they can be dried properly.”

David handed them off to Killian, keeping a careful eye on them, he didn’t have any other clothes, they were important. “Are they coming to take me?” He asked Killian, speaking for the first time since Killian had been back, he had only spoken a handful of words to Weaver while Killian hadn’t been there, most of them ‘yes’ and ‘no’.

“David, I told you I will not let you be taken to any home I cannot guarantee that you’re safe in, I don’t break my word.” Killian’s voice was serious and earnest, and he meant every word, he just wasn’t sure how he was going to pull it off.

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn’t long before David’s social worker turned up, and David became even more guarded as Killian informed him of the entire situation, it only took five minutes before the conversation turned tense.

“David, if you thought that a foster home wasn’t a good fit then you should have talked to me, not run off for a few weeks-”

“-So, you lot could just shove me around to a new home? Yeah, I’d rather take my chances on the street-!”

“Hey.” Killian hushed, gently placing his hand on David’s back, getting him to make eye contact with him, even if the teen shrugged his hand away as soon as he did. “You’re going to bring on another coughing fit, you need to calm down.” He fixed him with the look he had given him earlier, David glared, but slumped back against the back of the couch. Killian passed him over the throw blanket again, this time draping it over him a bit, the kid was clearly extremely cold as he didn’t shrug it off.   
“Can we talk?” Killian asked the social worker and led him to the other side of the room, he could feel David’s eyes on him, he kind of wished Weaver hadn’t stepped out to give them some space, either to give David support, or to make sure that Killian wasn’t about to act impulsive.

“Thank you for finding him.” The social worker, Mark, sighed. “He’s a good kid, deep down, he just…” He trailed off, truth be told he didn’t know what David needed, not really, he knew that he could be _more_ though.

Kilian nodded his head. “Yeah, he seems it… What’s going to happen to him now?”

Mark sighed. “Now I try to find him a place in a secure unit, they’re like group homes but-“

“-More locks.” Killian finished frowning.

“This isn’t the first time he’s run away, he’s a serial runaway sometimes they weren’t a good fit, sometimes his previous social worked put David in homes which clearly hadn’t been vetted properly: There’s just no more foster families who are equipped to take him. If he had been charged with something I think the judge would send him to juvie.”

“He said he had a brother who’s also in care.”

“Ah, yes, James.” Mark nodded. “He’s about two years older than David, the two were adopted after their mother died, the man who adopted them severely abused them for just over a year. They were split up as David was in hospital and it was thought that James would be the one who would need a more _experienced_ home, he was sort of a problem child, but…”

Neither of them said that David was the one who turned into the problem child, but it was implied. “He doesn’t have _any_ other family? Aunties, uncles, anyone?”

“His biological father is in prison for armed robbery, and he has two half siblings from him, one’s in medical school, the other is a photography, David doesn’t really see them too much, he’s just not been settled enough.” Mark looked over at David, he was still shivering and was still covered by the blanket the detective had draped over him, normally he would have been arguing and wouldn’t stand for him talking to anyone about him, he was clearly sick, and he looked his young age.

Killian cleared his throat. “I erm, when we talking on the phone I mentioned that I am a registered foster carer, I’ve not fostered since I moved into my new apartments, and I used to foster younger kids than him, but my apartment’s been approved and I’m a cop, obviously, so I can provide a bit more of a safe place, I could, I could foster him?”

Mark’s eyebrows shot up. “You want to foster him?”

Killian sighed. What the hell was he getting himself into? “I can get him into a good school, my best friend knows some people at Willow Park High, and he’s an ideal student for one of their scholarships… Look, I can give him a stable home, it’s just me there but my best friend is fully cleared to work with kids, she can help out if needed. He seems like a good kid, I promised him that I would help him find a safe home, _he_ deserves one last chance, instead of being shoved into some prison like Home.”

There was silence for a minute. “You seriously want to foster him, not because you feel obliged or-“

“-I do.”

Mark slowly nodded before pulling out his phone. “Let me just make a quick call.”

He left the room and Killian sat next to David. “You need some medicine, Dave.”

“I hate medicine.” David croaked.

“Well, you’re sick, you’ve got to take some.”  He smiled slowly. “When I was a boy my mum used to give me a boiled sweet, candy, after I took medicine I didn’t like.”

David quirked an eyebrow. “How _old_ are you?”

Killian rolled his eyes. “I’m not that old. Does that mean that you wouldn’t want candy after medicine…?”

“What, no, no I wouldn’t turn down extra candy.” David said quickly. He yawned and was struggling to keep his eyes open now. His entire head felt heavy and his chest tight. His head shot up when Mark opened the door again.

Mark nodded his head to Killian, to signify that his phone call had been successful, he walked over and crouched in front of his charge. “David, I’ve found you a place to live, it’s still in the city, it’s a nice apartment, just you and a foster father, he seems like a good man. You’ll be safe there.”

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?” He was trying not to sulk over that.

“You do, this foster home, or there’s a place in a secure home, about an hour outside the city, it’s safe, and I know the man who runs it he’s nice too. It’s your choice David, but this foster family, it’s your last chance with them.”

“I don’t want to live in a fucking unit.”

“David,” Killian’s voice was a sea of calm against David’s frantic croaking, “you need to know, that foster home is mine, I’d be your foster father.”

“To stay with _you?_ But you’re a pi-“

“ _David!_ ”

“You’re a cop. Why… Why’d you want me?”

“Because you’re a good kid who deserves a chance, and a safe stable home, you deserve a last chance.”

There was a pregnant pause then David nodded his head, slowly. “… Okay…”  

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David moves into Killian's apartment.

Killian drove his car back to his apartment with Mark and David following behind in the social worker’s car. He kept looking back in his mirror, checking to see if they were still there, the only way he could ensure David would be in a safe home, the only way he could think of right now anyway, was him living with him. He was a little worried that the teen was going to disappear unless he checked the mirror every couple of minutes.

* * *

 

 

Eventually he made it to his apartment block and pulled into his usual parking spot. And climbed out of the car as Mark and David climbed out of the other one behind his. “It’s er, just this way,” he led the way through the gate leading to the entrance, “this is where the post, mail, is, I’ll show you where that is tomorrow David.” He led them across the entrance way and to the elevator, deciding it would be easier on David than the flights of stairs, hell, after the long day he didn’t fancy walking all the way up. 

 

He led them to the door of apartment 5E pulling out his keys to unlock the door. “I’ll get you a key cut as soon as I possibly can, David, the next couple of days.” He stood aside to let them inside and closed the door behind them all, flicking the lights on. 

  
  


He started to lead a tour around his corner apartment, his room to the right of the front door, David the two spare rooms down the corridor, the bigger of which would be David’s, Killian’s office, and the bathroom, making a note to include toiletries on the mental shopping list he was making. The last room, furthest from the front door, was the open plan kitchen, dining, and living room.

 

* * *

  
  


Killian made some coffee for himself and Mark, and then some hot chocolate for David, after getting them all sorted, the three of them settled down to go over paperwork and things they needed to sort out: including things Killian would have to enrol David in such as the local doctor’s, David pulled a face when Killian said he’d take him for a check up and Killian realised that perhaps the kid who had been so cocky earlier wasn’t really that cocky after all.

 

* * *

 

With the final papers signed, and the social worker having been assured David would be safe and giving him his number again just to be on the safe side, Killian led Mark to the door. 

“I’ll be back in about a week, to see how he’s settling in, and to make sure that he’s in school.”

“I’ve taken some time off, I have plenty of holidays saved up, I’ll ring you tomorrow after I’ve seen if I can get him a place in the local private school, on scholarship of course.” Killian told him. “And I’ll make sure he gets checked out to make sure it’s not just a cold.” 

Mark nodded slowly. “That’s good, private school could be more structured for him... and they might be able to stop him truanting so much.” 

They talked a little more before Mark left, Killian locked the door as he always did, it was only at that moment that Killian realised exactly what he had taken on. He had fostered before, but not for a while, and the oldest he had fostered was a ten year old, and only for a short while- David was a teenager, who clearly had a whole lot of past and current problems, and they weren’t sure how long he would be there. He wasn’t scared David would do something and screw up:  he was scared that he would do something to screw David up.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


He made a quick detour on his way back to the living room and arrived back with medicine in his hand. David seemed so small alone on the couch shivering still. Maybe this wouldn’t be too different than a younger kid, he walked over and sat himself on the coffee table facing David. He handed him a glass of apple juice then handed over a tablet. “Here, take these, they’ll start to help you feel better, bud.” 

“I’m fine.” David croaked, Killian gave him a look, he took the pills and swallowed them with the juice. “Urgh.” He made a noise and pulled a face to match. “Medicine’s gross… and I really am fine.” 

“Sure you are. I guess you don’t need candy then, after that medicine, because you’re fine.” He took a fun size packet of skittles out of his pocket as he spoke. 

David’s hand shot out and took the skittles. He flinched when he realise what he had done… but Killian was just looking amused, he gave him his own sheepish smile in return. “Thanks.” 

“Y’know, it’s okay that you’re sick, right? It’s not a problem.” He assured him quickly making David look down to avoid the awkward conversation. “I’m going to run you a hot bath, it might help you stop shivering, a little. Why don’t you unpack your things and get settled while I do it? I’ll find you some pyjamas to wear tonight, we’ll get some new clothes for you tomorrow too.” He promised remembering the too big, ripped, graffitied jeans. 

He led David to the biggest guest bedroom. “The erm, bed’s in the alcove bit there, but we can move it if you like, there’s a desk and bookcase, and the closets through that door. Once you’re well we can decorate it however you like, I’ve not really done much with it since I moved in here.” 

“It’s cool.” David said, as though it wasn’t the biggest and coolest bedroom he had been in before, it definitely had a lot of potential to be amazing, that was his artistic side thinking. He walked further into the room, past the door for the closet to where the bed was hidden. 

“You get yourself unpacked and settled, I’ll be in the bathroom you need a bath to warm up, I’ll grab you pyjamas too. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”

“I can run my own bath.” David protested weakly.

“You’re sick, you get to be looked after,” he shrugged, “don’t worry when you’re better I won’t be doing things like this.” He smiled as David let out a little laugh. “I’ll, er, I’ll…” He hesitated looking between the doorway he was stood in and David.

“I’m not gonna to run, you don’t have to babysit me, or watch me like a hawk.” David scowled.

“I’m not, and I don’t think that you’re going to run, you know that this is your last chance, and not to brag but this place is better than a falling down factory. I was just making sure that you weren’t about to fall asleep, you look like you’re about to drop on your feet, I’d rather I didn’t have to catch you before you hit the floor.” 

David scoffed half heartedly. “Whatever man.” He sat on the bed to appease him and watched Killian leave, he had the decency to shut the door on his way out. He supposed that he wasn’t so bad, for a cop anyway, he wasn’t quite as serious as David had first thought that he was, he was quite funny actually.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Killian started off the hot water in the bath, he rooted around and found some bath salts and bubble bath an old girlfriend had left once, he added some to the bath and walked back to his bedroom, he pulled out his cellphone and pressed the buttons without looking, he didn’t have to, he knew the buttons off by heart. He headed into his own closet as the dial tone rang in his ear.

 

“I’ve done something possibly stupid.” He said as soon as the phone was picked up.

“You always do something possibly stupid.” Regina took a sip of her coffee, picking up the pen she was using to plan out her case, making some notes and adjustments. “What’s wrong, you sound more… scared, than usual… Are you breathless? Wait are you about to tell me about you hooking up with-”

“What? No! No. I’m, I’m just trying to find some, some pyjamas… I’ve got, I’ve got a new foster kid.” 

Regina sat back in her chair, her eyes wide, she hadn’t expected that. “You did? I, that’s a surprise, I thought you were taking a break-”

“-I was-”

“-What’s the kid like?”

“He’s a teenager. He’s, he’s David, I met him at the station this morning being questions, then when I was getting snacks he was taking some out of date bread from the store, I followed him, found him in this abandoned building he had been living there a while, he’s clearly sick, he can’t stop shaking, I found out he’s only fifteen… They wanted to send him to some secure home, he’s run away a lot, but I… I just couldn’t let them do that, he, I wanted to give him a last chance.”

“...Well, that’s er, that’s a different way of getting a foster kid.” 

“.......Gina?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m kind of freaking out. I’m this kid’s last chance, I don’t want to mess this up, I can’t-”

“Hey!” She hushed. “Kil, you can do this, it’s okay, you’re an amazing foster parent and you’re a good cop, you know how to talk to teenagers and how to look after children, and you’re not doing this alone, I’ll help you where I can. Look, you’ve done a good thing, and the kid must trust you to have agreed to go home with you. Look, do you have a plan?”

Killian let out a small laugh, Regina was always so organised, someone braver than him might call her anal retentive, but it helped her win cases, and she managed to mostly relax when they hung out, so Killian didn’t mind. “I’m running a bath for him now, I found some bath salts Ursula left and added them, and I’m finding him some pyjamas, he’s pretty small, scrawny, but I’m pretty sure I have a pair of pyjamas I was going to give to Junior.. Ah hah! I found them.”    
He pulled them out of the pile, the folded blankets fell on him making him nearly drop his phone.   
“Tomorrow I’m taking him to the doctor to get checked over and get him any medicine he needs, I’m going to get him some new clothes, ones without holes and drawings all over them, then I think we’ll just be at home, oh, I’m going to ring Eva, I know she said they want their school to be diverse, I’d rather he went to that one than the local one, I’ve been called out there more often than I want to admit.” 

“I think she said she had places last I spoke to her concerning a case.” Regina remembered. “...Are you okay now?” 

Killian let out a sigh then an embarrassed chuckle. “Yeah, I, I’m fine, sorry for freaking out. D’you still wanna come for movie night? I got some snacks.” 

“You sure you want me there?” 

“Yeah, it might help settle the kid, or put him at ease that this place is normal.” 

“You’re not normal.” She quipped with humour in her voice. “Yeah sure, anyway I want to meet the kid, David, I have a case but I’ll be done by six.” 

Killian said his goodbyes and hung up, he checked on the bath, he turned the the running water off making sure that it wouldn’t be too hot, he made sure there was a bath sheet size towel on the heater, and left the pyjamas with it, he headed to the next room to tell David to take a bath.   
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


After Killian closed the bedroom door, David opened up his backpack. Inside of it was everything he owned, not nearly enough to fill the room, not even slightly. There were the damp clothes he was wearing earlier, another set of just as worn and dirty clothes, a meager collection of art material: three sketchbooks, some pencils worn down to the end yet still sharpened, a pencil sharpener and eraser, and a tin of watercolours snatched from school and now muddied from overuse. There was a couple of school textbooks and a couple of novels he had reread several times, his smashed old cell phone and a pair of earbuds. The last things he pulled out were two framed photos, the glass was fractured and smashed, barely staying together, on both of the frames, and yet they were his most treasured possessions. 

In the worn gold frame was an old photograph, he wasn’t sure who had taken it, it wasn’t professionally taken so it must have been by someone his mom knew and liked, it definitely wasn’t his father. In the photo his mom had him sat on her lap, her arms around him cuddling him close, he was only about four, and had a mass of white blonde curls, and blue eyes which stood in stark contrast to his mother’s brown eyes and hair. There were enough similarities between them though, the shape of his face, and he knew that he had inherited her smile. He looked more like her than he did his father, what he remembered of him anyway, and for that he was eternally grateful.    
The next picture was in a much more modern, and cheaper, frame, though it too had been damaged over the years. This photograph was taken a year after his mother’s death, he was only seven, he and his nine year old brother James had been taken into care a few months before, it was before they were adopted by Albert Spencer. Beside them were their brother and sister from their father’s first marriage: William was twenty, and Addy was nineteen, that was eight years ago now, and he hadn’t seen any of them in about a year, Addy used to write him letters, but then he had moved foster homes, and he couldn’t remember her address now. 

He left the frames on the bed, he needed to ask Killian where the sheets were, and set about putting things in places which seemed right, though with so little possessions they didn’t look truly right. The books went onto the big bookcase, the sketchbooks and art materials on the desk, he put his dry set of clothes from his bag into the closet though wasn’t sure what to do with the other set. 

He sat on the bed with the framed pictures he didn’t want them to be too far from him. There were sides built up so that they were on level with the mattress, almost like little shelves, he decided to place them there, he’d be able to see them that way. He touched the wall of the bed alcove and realised that it had been painted using chalkboard paint, that must have been the previous owners, he couldn’t imagine Killian having the imagination to do it, even to put the bed in the alcove. Perhaps he could make this place his own, though, even if it was just for a little while. 

He jumped as a knock at the bedroom door sounded, a cough escaped from his mouth, he realised that Killian was waiting for him to let him in. 

“Er… Come in?” He rubbed the back of his head as Killian walked in

“Hey, lad, the bath’s ready for you, it’ll help you warm up. Gina, my friend Gina, always swears that baths and things like that, old mother’s tales.” Killian realised that he was rambling about Regina. He spotted the lumped up pile of damp clothes of David’s backpack and decided to change the subject. “I’ll throw those in the wash, if you don’t mind the drawings going, we’ll get you some more clothes tomorrow too, ones which fit you properly.” 

“They’re, the drawings, they’re not meant to be permanent.” He shrugged. Passing the clothes to Killian who clearly didn’t mind taking them. “Er, thanks, for, for everything.”

Kilian shrugged in return, David didn’t want it to be a big deal, so Killian was not going to make it into one. “It’s okay, lad.” He assured him and nodded his head towards the door, David got the idea and followed him out of the room.

“The bath should be warm enough but if you want it hotter you can just run some more hot, and there’s a towel on the warmer, and those pyjamas should fit you.” He listed off pointing to the different things. 

“‘Kay… thanks….. again.” 

 

* * *

  
  


It felt like forever since David had been in an actual bath, especially one with bubbles, he was much more used to lukewarm and rushed showers. He sank down in the hot water until he was completely submerged, he stayed under, holding his breath, for about a minute, before he came back up. He coughed and sputtered a little but he felt like he could relax for the first time in forever. He grabbed a shower puff and some of the shower gel. He could tell Killian was single, he only had one shower gel and one bottle of shampoo, truthfully he was surprised that he had bubble bath and bath salts.He scrubbed every inch of his body, the little cuts caked with dried blood, and the bruises made to see darker by mud and general body grime. The water darkened from all the grime but he felt a whole lot cleaner. He dunked his head in the water again and came back out, lathered his hair with the shampoo, it was longer than it used to be, he preferred it short but he hadn’t been able to get any scissors yet to cut it himself. He washed out the shampoo then repeated. 

He only dragged himself out of the bath when it turned too cold to stay in, he drained it and wrapped himself in the warm fluffy towel. He rinsed the grime from the bath then dressed himself in the pyjamas Killian had left out for him. He noticed the label. New pyjamas? That was something else which he wasn’t used to. He tore it out and rolled the long legs of the pyjamas up, they were just a little bit, he looked into the mirror above the sink. Jesus, he looked like an entirely new person. Or an old person. He looked a little like James. He smiled a little. He looked like his mom.

He left the towel on the towel rack, making sure that the bathroom was as clean as it had been when he had entered, then stepped out of the hot bathroom into the rest of the warm apartment. 

He shuffled down the hall into the living room sheepishly.

 

* * *

 

 

Killian looked up from his phone when he heard David padding into the room, he had been texting his friend Eva, the head of private school, his eyes widened. He didn’t realised that David’s hair was quite so blonde, or that his skin was quite so pale, or that his hair was so curled by the damp. He looked younger, a little more innocent, there was a faint smile on his lips. “You clean up good, lad.” 

David let out a scoffing laugh. “Thanks,  _ old man. _ ” He smirked getting his own back on Killian calling him ‘lad’ all the time. “I’m erm, I’m gonna go to bed, I’m wiped. Do you have any bedding things-?”

“- It’s okay, I set it all up while you were in the bath, there’s spare blankets and a bottle of juice and a granola bar in case you’re hungry, you look pretty tired.” Killian smiled softly and stood up, with younger kids he put them to bed, but David was a little too old for it. 

“Thanks, er, Killian.” David wanted to be snarky and sarcastic to him like he usually was to cops, but Killian was being nice, and he wasn’t sure what he could say to be annoying or sarcastic to him, he was blaming it on being sick. “Night.” 

“I’ll see you in the morning, I hope you feel better.” 

David paused. “Er, thanks.” Jesus, he hadn’t said thanks so much since he was living with his mother, manners had been important to her, he had long since abandoned those for traits which were required for his survival. “You too.” He squeezed his eyes shut for a half second and hurried out of the living room.

 

* * *

 

 

He closed his bedroom door behind him before leaning against it. He winced shutting his eyes. “‘You too’?” He repeated. “Jesus, David, what the hell is wrong with you?” He shook his head. Since when had been such a dork? 

He grabbed the bottle of juice from the desk where Killian had left it, and quickly wolfed down the granola, throwing the wrapper into the small metal trash can beside the desk. He carried the juice to his bed and placed it beside the framed pictures. He led staring at the photographs for a little while before finally flicking the lamp off. 

“Night Will, night Addy, night Jamie.” He whispered to the dark. He paused. His voice got a little quieter. “Night mom.” 

 

* * *

  
  
  


Killian went through his usual routine of turning off different things, and making sure that everything was in its place and secure, as he headed to bed. He paused outside of what was the guest bedroom, David’s bedroom now, he remembered. He slowly opened the door. He could just about see David asleep in bed. Killian creeped in, David was still shivering in his sleep, so Killian grabbed one of the blankets and tucked it on top of the duvet already covering him. David moved in his sleep, curled up instead of spread out, Killian smiled for a moment, making sure that the kid was alright. 

“Night David.” He whispered just as quietly as David had whispered earlier, he left the room to get some sleep himself, it had been a long day.

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Killian woke a little later than usual, he had taken time off so it wasn’t totally unusual for him to have a bit of a lie in, it was only after a couple of minutes of yawning, stretching, and wiping the sleep from his eyes that he remembered about the teenager now in his care. 

His phone started to ring. 

“Rogers.” It took him a minute to realise it was Eva returning his texts the earlier night. “Wait, seriously Eva? He’ll have a place?” He felt a weight lifting off of him when she assured him that she had talked it over with members of the board and with the people in charge of the scholarship awards, and had looked over his previous school records, David had been awarded a full scholarship, they were even giving him another scholarship awarding him money towards school uniform and books, which he could collect later, after a meeting between himself, David, and Killian. The only possible problem in the plan which stuck in Killian’s mind was that all of this was dependant on David’s behaviour and grades, according to Eva David was certainly bright enough to maintain at least a 3.0 gpa, higher if he tried, but Killian was worried he might not fit in behaviour wise. 

When he agreed a time to meet at the school he hung up and got out of bed to brew some commenced a few more phone calls.

He was done with them both quicker and more successfully than he had expected. Downing his first cup of coffee he checked the time and sent a quick ‘good luck’ text to Regina, he knew she had a case in court today, she sent back some smiley faces and a promise she would grab takeout for them for dinner ready for their movie night, and an order to find out what takeout and movies David wanted and liked. Killian rolled his eyes but there was a smile on his face, gods that woman would be the death of him.

He grabbed David’s clothes he had washed, dried, and ironed them the night before. He quietly padded down the corridor to the doors for the bedroom. He quietly knocked the door, he waited, but when there was no answer he entered the room. He placed the clean clothes down onto the desk David’s coughing made him turn, the kid was still asleep but starting to stir, Killian was just glad that he had booked to see the doctor in a couple of hours, to get David registered and checked out. 

He waited for David to stop coughing to leave the room. He went and got himself washed and dressed for the day, his usual look- a dark, thin woollen sweater, with dark skinny jeans. As he dressed he thought about all the things David would need, he shook his head as soon as he tried to list them he started to think of more and more things, he left his bedroom and went back to the living area, grabbing a pen and paper he started to make a list. 

He heard the noise of David starting to move about, heading to the bathroom then stumbling around his bedroom. 

“Breakfast.” Killian said to himself. “What do teenagers eat?” 

 

* * *

 

 

David walked through to the living area, dressed in the clothes he had been before, though now clean, which David hadn’t realised he would be quite so happy about. He could smell the food cooking but figured he would be left on his own, surely there would be some bread or cereal or something, that’s what a lot of Foster and care homes had been like. 

Killian placed down the two plates of food as David Walker into the room. “Morning kid, sit down, I’ll just grab you some medicine.” 

“I, Erm, thanks.” His voice was husky with sleep and sickness, but he did as he was told, mostly because he was so surprised that the man had made him breakfast. He pulled a face as he was passed the tablets, but he took them with a swig of the orange juice in front of him. “They’re still gross.” 

Killian let out a little chuckle and shook his head but was glad when David started to tuck into breakfast, so he did the same. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like so I figured this would be good.”

“It’s great, thanks, erm Detective-“ 

“It’s Killian, kid, you don’t have to call me some official title, this isn’t a home like that, just treat me with respect and I’ll do that same back.” He watched David nod and duck his head, he watched his eyebrows furrow a bit, but he was clearly trying to hide it so Killian didn’t pry. He didn’t want to push too far. “Do you remember I told you and Mark about Willow Park school?” 

“The posh one with the uniforms?” 

“Well, that posh one with the uniforms has accepted you on scholarship, we have a meeting later and a little tour.  Eva, the head teacher, said that you really impressed them with your potential.” He watched David roll his eyes but he had a sneaking suspicion that he was secretly proud, his lips were trying not to twitch into a smile, he smirked and gently nudged his shoulder with his own. “You didn’t tell me you’re a little brainiac.”

David rolled his eyes. “Is it too late to go to that jail home- that was a joke.” He said quickly, just in case. He had been in one of the secure homes when he was 13, he had hated it, so so much. 

“I know, don’t worry.” He smiled at David as soothingly as he could. “Before we go to the school for the meeting I also booked you a doctor’s appointment-”

“-What! No-”

Killian held his hand up in a ‘stop’ gesture. “David, calm down, please. I’m sorry but you have to go, you’re sick and need medicine, plus you need to have a general check up anyway.” He knew the kid didn’t like taking medicine but god- wait, was the kid… scared? “Listen, kid, it will be super quick, its at the clinic which is normally quiet, especially the pediatrician bit. David, if we don’t go you could end up in hospital, and I think that neither of us want that, huh bud?” 

“...I guess… But I’m gonna complain the whole time.” He warned. 

“How come I’m not surprised?” Killian chuckled. Normally he would put on the tv or radio for some background noise in the morning, or sometimes Regina would stay over, but this, having someone else in the apartment talking, and (sort of) cracking jokes was really nice. “So I figured after the docs we could do with getting you some clothes and stuff, as long as you’re feeling up to it?”

“Are you su-, I’m not that sick, I’ll be okay.” There was only a little bit of eggs left and the crusts from his toast, but he pushed them around his plate with his fork as he tried to find his words. “I guess the foster money came in?” He could feel his eyebrows pulled together, half the foster carers he had in the past had just kept most of the money.”

“Mark said it should be over the next couple of days, but you really need these, especially as you don’t start school ‘til monday, you’ll be bored stiff if you don’t have things to do.” 

“Oh, er, thanks.” 

“I figured once your allowance comes in we can go and get more things for your room, I have a tv I don’t use if you want that in your room?”

“Seriously?” His eyes widened. 

Perhaps raising a teenager would be easier than he thought. “Yeah, I can’t sleep with one on, and if I want to watch something there’s a tv in here, you can’t be watching it all night ‘cause you’ll need your sleep, but I don’t see why not.” 

“Cool. Thanks Killian.” 

“It’s okay, bud. You finished?” 

“Yeah, I can-” 

“It’s okay, I got it. You go get your shoes on, and your hoody, it’s getting cold outside.” 

 

* * *

 

 

The two got ready, David looked a little better than the day before, the wonders of a bath, a bed, and clean clothing, even if the clothes still had some holes in and were scruffy. Killian drove them to the clinic and the two sat and waited for David’s name to be called. 

Killian noticed David bouncing his leg in his peripheral vision. “So you’re into art, right?” He watched him nod. “What else you into? I noticed a couple of books on your bookshelf.” 

“I like books.”

“What sort?” 

“I like YA, young adult like teen y’know, and sci fi and fantasy sorta stuff. And comics.” 

“DC or Marvel?” 

“Marvel.” He said straight away a grin went to his face. 

“Good lad.” Killian grinned. “They’re clearly the best. So… On fridays my friend, Regina, and I have a movie night, she really wants to meet you, she’s told me it’s up to you what movies we watch and what takeout we have, if you’re not feeling up to it I can cancel tonight, not problem.”

“No, no it’s okay, I can, I can go in my room, if you want-”

“ _ David _ .” Killian’s firm tone caused David to stop his rambling completely. “You’re not being pushed out of the living room, I genuinely want you around, and Gina really wants to meet you. It’s up to you if we hang out just the two of us watching movies or tv or something, or if Gina comes over too” 

David looked down at the floor, moving his shoes so they scuffed against it, he slowly nodded his head. He had fully prepared to hate Killian, he had many run ins with cops in the past, plus his own family history had only added to his dislike. But Killian was nice, he was just quizzing him he seemed genuinely interested in what he liked and wanted honest answers to things like this. He nodded his head, plastered on a smirk which some would have called a miracle considering his surroundings, and looked up at Killian. “So, this Gina, is she your girlfriend?” 

“What! No! No she’s not, we’re not- she’s just a friend.”

“You talk about her a lot.” His voice was like a song and he was grinning as he tried to wind his foster father up with the truth. 

Killian playfully glared at the teenager. “She’s just a friend. I might ask the doctor if he can prescribe you something to help you see sense.” 

“Sure, but when you guys get together you’ll owe me $20.” 

“Okay, whatever you say kid, ‘cause it’s never going to happen.” Despite the kid getting the wrong end of the stuck when it came to him and Regina, he was overjoyed to see him cheered up and smiling. 

 

When David was called in Killian went with him, something the teenager wouldn’t say made him feel safer and more at peace , but he did. He didn’t like doctors though he certainly should have been used to them by now after all of the many times he had needed medical attention. Killian passed the forms the doctor who quickly scanned him before talking to David. 

“And have you had a temperature?” 

“No.” 

“He’s been shivering most of the time, and he’s cold even when the heats been on, but he’s been cold all the time.”

David shot him a look which clearly said ‘traitor’. 

The doctor examined David, clipping a oximeter onto his finger, checked his temperature through his ear. 

Killian winced when David lifted his shirt and hoodie so the doctor could listen to his chest, the bruises and cuts plastered his sticking out ribs, luckily (or unluckily) the pediatrician had seen a lot of these sort of cases so didn’t react. 

“It sounds like you have a bit of a chest infection there, David, your file says you’re asthmatic, I’m going to assume you don’t have inhalers?” 

David shrugged dismissively. “They ran out. I couldn’t get more. I’ve been okay.”

“He’ll be taking them now.” Killian said firmly, giving David a look which made the teenager roll his eyes, he didn’t get how he could be so unbothered by his health. 

“I’ll prescribe him some inhalers, along with some antibiotics and steroids, try and rest for the rest of the week, if you can.” The doctor assured Killian and ordered David. He looked back at David. “While you’re here we’ll do a quick physical and I’ll give you a flu jab, ‘tis the season.”

David slowly followed the doctor to the area behind the curtain to have a check up. 

 

* * *

 

 

 

He came back around and took his place next to David once again, he pulled his arm out of his sleeve to be given the flu shot then sat scuffing his feet against the floor as he listened to the doctor saying he needed to put on more weight, and take all the medicine he was prescribed until he finished them, and to always carry the inhalers, he barely held himself from biting back that him being underweight wasn’t exactly his fault or plan. He was happy when they finally got to leave, but Killian dragged him to the pharmacy for his prescription to be filled. 

“Dave-,”

“-Id.”

Killian rolled his eyes. “ _ David _ , you need to listen to doc and carry these around.” 

“I’ll be fine.”

“Lad, just... “ He sighed, David was officially the most stubborn person he had ever met. “Look, you can just keep it in your backpack, you don’t have to use it unless you need to, but if something happens to you, if you have a coughing attack and can’t breathe then anything could happen, you could end up in hospital, or worse. Just carry it to keep me off your back if you have to, but you need to carry it.” 

David sighed and rolled his eyes but he remembered having asthma attacks when he was only very young, his mom would help him, he remembered having one after his mom had died, his dad had been annoyed at him ‘messing about’, but James had helped him, given him his own inhaler as David’s was out. “Fine- But not ‘cause I need to, just to keep you quiet.”

Killian was watching David’s face and watched him look sad for a moment before he spoke, he didn’t understand why, but he didn’t push it, he needed David carrying his inhaler and right now that was his priority. 

 

* * *

  
  


 

One they had gotten David’s medicine Killian drove them to the mall on the outskirts of the city, he wasn’t sure where exactly it was that teenage boys shopped, by the looks of it David wasn’t too sure either. So Killian led him to one of the shops he had often arrested teenagers from shoplifting from when he was a beat cop. 

“I wrote down some things that you’ll need,” he took the piece of paper he had written the lists on out of his back pocket, “if there’s anything else you need or want just let me know.”

David took the list he was being passed and read it over quickly. “This is a lot, I don’t think I’ve even had this many- you really don’t have to get me this many.” 

“Dave you need clothes, clothes that fit, part of it’s from your money, the bits from me, well I know what it’s like barely having anything.” he let out in a slightly heavy breath and distracted David from it by grabbing a cart. “Come on, once we’ve got them we can grab something to eat and drink before the meeting at the school.” 

“You’re really going to take that doctor’s words to heart aren’t you.” David groaned following him, truthfully he didn’t really mind, it was kind of nice having someone care about him like that.

Killian let out a chuckle. “Yeah, my mum she was Irish, she always had about a million different cures which she said would cure anything and had been passed down through every generation for about a hundred years, she also always had cuppa teas on the go and enough food to feed an army.” Despite chuckling through his anecdote, he did think about the tub of vapour rub in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, he clung to some reminders of his childhood. 

“So you’re saying you’re basically an irish mother?” 

“If you’re not careful I’ll make you the same broth she used to make me and my brother eat when we were sick, trust me you do  _ not _ want that.”

David chuckled.

“Pick some socks and underwear.” 

David picked up a couple of packs of each, some dark, some in bright colours with some cartoons on. He chucked them into the cart. 

The two carried on walking in a comfortable quiet as they walked through the store, adding jeans, sweatpants and chinos, along with tshirts, sweaters, and a couple of shirts to the cart. 

“M-Maybe it’s a mom thing, the soup, I mean. My mom always said chicken soup would cure most things, or vapour rub.” 

“Yeah vapour rub was a miracle to my mum too.” Killian laughed. “Though that being said when I get ill,” he shrugged with a smile, “I still end up going back to the things she said would work, and they do.” 

David nodded his head and pretended to be looking at the pyjamas smiling fondly at the memory of his mom still. 

“When I was setting up your bed I noticed the photo frames on the side, one of them was you and your mum, right?” 

“Yeah, before she, before she was gone.” His voice took on a soft tone Killian hadn’t head before. “I was like four or something.” His hand went to the back of his head as it always did when he was nervous. 

“You looked like a sweet kid, and you clearly loved your mum, she loved you a lot too, I can tell that.” 

David purposely didn’t reply to the part about his mom, he swallowed deeply, Killian was right; his mom wasn’t perfect, but she tried, and he loved her completely like she did him. Instead he put on an accent as close to Detective Nash’s as he could muster. “Compared to the ‘budding criminal delinquent’ I am now.” 

Killian chuckled at his spot on Nash impression but he shook his head. “I don’t think you’re a delinquent at all. I know you shoplifted because you didn’t think you had any other option, I’m not approving of it, but I get it. I don’t approve of the tagging though.” 

“Nash didn’t find any proof-“ 

“Which is lucky for you, but I have a feeling that it was definitely you, just stick to paper from now on.” 

David smirked with pride that he  _ had _ gotten away with it, luckily for him, considering he would have ended up in juvie easily. “Okay.” He agreed. He picked up the three pairs of pyjamas Killian had written on the list and Killian checked them off. 

“That other photo was you and your siblings?” 

“Yeah.” David followed behind his foster father to the shoes. “James, Addy, and Will.” 

“Do you miss them? You need some shoes, too, take a look.”

David did as he was told, looking for sneakers, boots, and slip ons, like Killian’s list had told him to. “Yeah.” He admitted, only when trying on a pair of Toy Story high top Vans. “Yeah, I miss them.” He pulled them on and found they fit like a glove. They went back into the box and into the cart, then Killian passed him a pair of boots which he did the same with. “Me and Addy used to write letters, but I kept moving and the letters got lost in the system or something. And I used to see James a bit. Will used to send loads of postcards and letters when he was travelling, he’d tell me where he’d be in a month and I would send letters and postcards there.” 

Killian smiled at that. “That sounds like a lot of fun.” But there was something in David’s voice which clearly showed he missed all of that. “I’ll talk to Mark, see if we can get addresses for them, you could start writing to them again, they can do the same back, now you have a permanent address.” 

David paused for a second. “Thanks, but it’s alright, they probably won’t want to…” 

Killian frowned. There had never been a moment that he had thought that either of his brother wouldn’t want to talk to him, and they weren’t especially close. “I think that they would, they probably miss you as much as you miss them.” 

David just shrugged again. “I think I like these slip ons best.” 

Killian accepted the box David passed him and didn’t comment on the change in topic. He made a mental note to ask Mark about it the next time they spoke, which would be later that day, David missed his brothers and sister and deserved to have some form of contact with them. 

After that a couple of hoodies, a hat, scarf, a pair of gloves, along with a leather jacket and a coat were added to the cart. By then David was looking nearly ready to collapse, he learnt heavily against the cart as they went back to Killians car and dumped the bags in the trunk, Killian made sure that David chose an outfit out of the new clothes to change into, he’d be more comfortable in clothing which actually fit him properly. 

Killian drove them to a diner he knew, Granny’s, it was a fair bit away from the school, in the centre of the city off several side streets, as Killian knew they had time to kill before the appointment.

“I think I’ll go get changed.” David slid out of their booth holding the plastic bag containing his outfit change.  

“Okay, oh, hey what do you want?” 

“Erm, Pepsi?” 

“Okay, I’ll order it, don’t over do yourself.” 

“I have a chest infection, I’m not eighty.” He smirked before heading to the bathroom. 

Killian didn’t apologise for being overprotective or worried, the kid was sick after all. He ordered for them both, more coffee for him, and Pepsi and a chocolate muffin for the kid. He swiped through his phone as he waited, the drinks soon arrived, he sipped his coffee and responded to Weaver’s text asking him how his first day being a dad was, he responded back as David came back to the booth, he looked confused about the muffin there. 

“You need to eat to take your antibiotics, we’ll stop for lunch later too for your next lot, then take out tonight.” 

“Yes mother.” David commented sarcastically, he tore bits off of his muffin to eat, he looked up at Killian with a smirk, which teased a chuckle from Killian. He took his medicine then finished his muffin. 

“So,” Killian glanced at his watch quickly, “you ready to go?” 

David half shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.” 

“Hey, this school is good, and they really want you there, I was talking to Eva and she mentioned they have a brand new art wing, you’ll do really well there kid.” 

“... I thought that you guys aren’t meant to be so soft.” He tried to joke. 

“Us guys? Ah, cops? Yeah you’d be surprised, I’ve seen Nash cry talking about some western movies. And Weaver acts like he doesn’t care about anything but he has a trunk full of things he gives to homeless people.”

“I know.uff

“Ah, that’s how you two know each other, why he didn’t want Nash to charge you.” 

“We’ve just talked a few times, he gave me some like toothpaste and stuff, he’s cool I guess.”

Killian was not planning on telling Weaver that David thought he was cool, especially as David clearly thought that he (Killian) was not, Weaver would never let him live that down. “Come on.” 

  
  


* * *

 

 

The drive went way too quick for David’s liking, Killian pulled into a space in the huge parking lot, but all David could do was see the huge old looking school. It looked like the huge ones he had seen in movies or read about in books. It looked posh. Oh god, how the hell was he going to fit in here, especially as he hadn’t even fit in at normal high schools. 

He reluctantly left the safety of the car and followed Killian into the school. He was suddenly relieved that Killian had gotten him to change into new clothes, he still stuck out like a sore thumb but a little less than he had of in the ill fitting faded clothes.

“Killian, how are you?” Eva hugged her friend. “You’re looking well.” 

“Thanks, I’m good, how are you, and Robin?” 

“Oh, can’t complain.” She turned away from Killian and turned a smile to David, she held out her hand. “And this must be David.” 

“Hey.” He shook the hand quickly before dropping it. 

Eva led them to her office, she moved to sit behind the mahogany desk on the red leather chair. David and Killian sat in two of the three chairs on the other side of the desk, Killian seemed comfortable there though David wasn’t sure if that was because he was a cop and saw a lot of different people in different environments. David on the other hand felt even more out of place, the chair he was sat in was probably one of the most expensive chairs he had ever been in, on the walls of the room were framed photographs of Eva with various clearly important or famous people, there were awards made of metals and of glass, all engraved, but the best thing was surrounding most of the walls were mahogany bookcases full of leather bound first editions, David wanted to stand up and explore them but restrained himself. He looked at an overwatered plant on Eva’s desk instead.

“So, David, I received and reviewed the transcripts from your previous two schools.” 

David swallowed, he hadn’t exactly attended the schools regularly, and he was constantly in trouble. 

“And I also rang around several of your previous teachers. There were some very impassioned responses to the questions I was asking, particularly from a couple of the teachers.” 

David swallowed again. “Mr Die and I didn’t see eye to eye-”

“-Hmm, yes, I spoke to him,” David shifted in his seat, “however Mr Die’s expectation precedes him, there are some members of staff at this school who also disagree with his teaching methods and how he interprets the curriculum.” 

David’s mouth physically dropped, just a little, but still noticeable. Mr Die being in the wrong wasn’t the surprising bit, the thing which surprised him was that there was a teacher who was admitting that  _ he  _ was right. Eva’s head tilted to the side, just a little, as she looked at him as though seeing inside of him, the head tilt reminded him of a Labrador or something, though he knew better than to say that to her. “Thank you.” He said instead, earnestly, he didn’t explain why he said it but for some reason Eva understood. 

“The teachers I was referring to where from your previous schools, all of them but particularly three from your last school; your English, history, and art teachers. In fact they couldn’t stop praising how intelligent you are especially in those subjects.”

David shifted in his seat again, he looked down at the plush rug his feet were on, he never knew what to say or do in response to compliments like that. 

“There are, however, concerns over your past behaviour. Your attendance at your old schools is sporadic at best.”

Killian was sure that Eva told him that she had guaranteed David a place, but he must have imagined that, because most the things she had said hadn’t sounded good at all. “But there were reasons for that, mostly understandable ones.” 

“I know.” She assured him before looking back at David. “There were a couple of incidents of fighting at your school between you and other students, at your last school alone, and a couple of other incidents at schools before that, but your school councillors insisted that you aren’t a violent person and you don’t have anger issues.” It was both a statement and a question. 

David actually felt bad, he didn’t understand it but he wanted to get into this school, if only to pay back Killian for what he had already done for him. Perhaps he could blame this moment of wanting to be part of some posh fancy school on having a fever still. “I… I only got into fights because other people started them, they had attacked m-my friend, I was defending my-friend.” He blurted out.

Eva slowly nodded her head. “Well, here we do not abide violence, if you have a problem with someone please come and speak to a member of staff, we also have a zero tolerance for bullying. If you communicate with us about any problems you or others are having there will be no escalation to violence. If there is there will be severe consequences, but we’ve found that doesn’t happen in you  _ communicate _ .” 

She kept stressing the word communicate, David was beginning to wonder if she could see right through him, or if Killian had told her that he wasn’t the best at communicating. He nodded his head and his entire demeanour showed how much he wanted the conversation to move on. 

“David, I sat with the board this morning, putting your case to them. A few were concerned slightly, when most of our students come to us they have a myriad of extra curriculars, have volunteered at places around the world, probably even especially the ones who apply for scholarships.” 

Killian opened his mouth to try and defend David’s ability to do those things but, much to his surprise, David spoke first. 

“I-I know.” David cleared his voice. “I changed homes a lot, and schools, I’m not trying to make you feel sorry for me, I don’t want or need pity, but most of the places I went to didn’t have any extra circulars, and there weren’t any places to volunteer at. Most of the places we barely learnt anything in class, because everyone was too busy messing about or fighting, I don’t think any of the teachers would want to spend any extra time with us.”

Eva smiles slightly at the end of that. There was something commendable about him speaking up for himself. “Yet, despite that, you did remarkably well in essays and exams, you’re well spoken, and your teachers insist that you could do even better… how did you do it?” 

David shrugged, sheepishly, he looked away from her. 

“David?” 

David’s head snapped up to Killian hearing his caring voice. 

Killian gave him a soft look and a nod, encouraging him to go on. 

“I taught myself, most of the stuff wasn’t in the cr- the library at my schools, but there’s loads of libraries across the city, and museums and stuff, they let me in when they realised I wasn’t going to like steal all the artifacts or books.” He shrugged again as though it wasn’t a big deal. 

Eva stood up and held her hand out towards David over the desk. 

Fuck, David thought, he had seriously blown it. He stood up, his legs felt like they were shaking, he glanced down to make sure that they weren’t actually doing so. He stretched out his hand, feeling bad about leaving her hanging, he just wanted to shake her hand and get out of this place, he could feel himself starting to be suffocated by the wooden walls and great expectations. 

He shook her hand. 

“Welcome to Willow Park High School, Mr Nolan. I expect to see you first thing Monday morning, eight on the dot, your foster father will bring you to this office, and while he and I sort all the paperwork another student will give you the tour.”

“Oh- I, er, thank you. Thanks.” He blinked several times wondering if this was some fever dream. 

Eva, Mrs Blanchard-Hood he had to remind himself, started to talk to Killian giving him lists about uniform and the books and equipment and etcetera, David allowed himself to walk over to the posh leather couches, his attention caught by some books on a bookshelf, he looked over their titles, his fingers brushing over the leather titles of classics novels, he had read several of them, some he had loved. 

“Dave?” 

He turned at Killian’s voice. “David.” He corrected though found he didn’t quite mind being called Dave by him that time. 

“David, I know you’re currently ill, but I would like to set you three essays to write, by next Friday.” 

“What on?” He stuffed his hands into his pockets, his fingers brushed over his scratched and scuffed cellphone. 

“Anything. Perhaps on the subjects you’re best at: art, world history, literature, but it could be anything you wish to write about. Whatever you’re passionate about. Give us an insight into yourself.” 

They shook hands again and Eva made Killian promise to go to her family home for dinner in a few weeks time, with David and Regina ‘of course’. 

They were being shown out when they bumped into a girl around David’s age, in a school uniform, she was pretty with dark hair, but she also reminded David of the girls at his old schools, the ones who were so clearly popular, the only difference was that at this school she would be one of the ones who would be getting through school and college without lifting a finger, then would either get a seat at their father’s company or become a trophy wife. 

“This is my daughter, Mary Margaret, she’ll be in some of your classes, she’ll be the one to give you a tour on Monday. Mary, this is Killian’s foster son, David Nolan.” 

“Nice to meet you.” 

David had the feeling that she wasn’t being extremely truthful it was clearly a reflex to say it was nice meeting people, he guessed if her mom was the head she had to say that line a lot. “Yeah, you too, I guess.” He didn’t take her hand, her eyes narrowed a little much then she dropped her hand. 

 

* * *

  
  


They got back into Killians car. David noticed Killian eyeing him. 

“What?”

“I didn’t know ” But he didn’t look away. “You hide how smart you are, why?” 

“Are you saying I act stupid?” 

Killian just raised his eyebrow. “For a minute there you looked worried Eva wasn’t going to give you a place.” David stayed quiet. “I think they nearly didn’t with your fighting.” 

David rolled his eyes, he could hear the judgement in his voice, if he knew the real reason why… David scoffed and shook his head. “Look, I’m not going to start loads of fights, okay? I’ll be a  _ good little boy _ ,” he let out through his teeth, “so can you just drop it already?” He slumped back in the seat, his eyes firmly on the windshield. 

Killian frowned, David seemed to swing back and forth between being kind of sweet to being sarcastic and closed off, he figured it was being a teen with a traumatic past, there was something in his cop past and training which told him that the kid was hiding something. But he wouldn’t get it out of him right then. “I wasn’t going to tell you off, David.” He could see the sides of David’s face soften even if he didn’t turn back to look at Killian. 

Killian started to drive, taking them on a slow roundabout way back to the mall. This time he parked on the opposite side of the lot. Apparently the time he had taken to drive had given David enough time to calm down. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


 

“We’ve really gotta-?”

“- Yup. You need to get fitted for a school uniform.” 

“You’re bloody enjoying this.” 

“Don’t say bloody.” He didn’t deny finding it amusing how much David was protesting getting a school uniform. He almost felt a little bad about it though he wasn’t sure why David was so…  _ resistant? _ about it, like it would change everything. “You know, when I was a lad-.”

“- A long time ago.” 

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, y’know I’m not that old, right? Anyway, back at my high school I had to wear a uniform, and I had my sports, gym, phys-ed whatever, kits.” 

David paused for a minute before looking at Killian with a soft smile. “Was this before or after you and your siblings went through a wardrobe and found a talking lion god?” 

“You’re making jokes about old British literature,” he placed his hand on the back of his neck and started to lead him into the store, “you’re going to fit right in at Willow Park.”

  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Several hours later David and Killian struggled back into the apartment, weighed down under the bags from the clothes shopping, David’s new uniform, of which there were several different types he needed, backpacks, stationary, books and textbooks for school, a new pair of headphones, art equipment, leisure books and a fidget spinner and fidget cube (that was Weavers suggestion, it was possible he was being sarcastic, but Killian had a sneaking suspicion that Weaver genuinely thought teenagers and only like things like that). 

Killian helped carry them into David’s room, a mountain of bags. “I’ll grab some more hangers for your clothes.” He disappeared into his own room and came back with enough hangers for all of the clothes. David was leaning back against the desk looking as though he was about to fall asleep but clearly trying to hide his tiredness. “Why don’t you get some rest, I’ll help you unpack a bit later,” David’s eyebrows shot up and his mouth opened, boy he was a stubborn one, “it’ll just be the medicine making you a bit tired.” He knew it was also due to the actual infection but David stay quiet, so Killian was hoping he believed him. 

“Yeah, I guess. Thanks Detect- Killian. For, for all this, the school stuff, and the stuff for me.” 

This boy was clearly determined to break Killian. “It’s not problem, lad, really. Now you should get some rest or you won’t recover.” But he didn’t leave the room instead he examined David silently with his eyes. “Are you sure you’re up to movie night, honestly Regina won’t mind us postponing, hell today’s been long for me too and I’m not sick.” 

“No, I’m, I’m good, if you don’t mind the movie night that is?” 

Killian smiles at him, he was kind of relieved with that answer, he knew Regina was like a magician with how she could magically make people feel at ease, he thought that both he and David desperately needed that despite the bonding they had done that day. “Cool. Cool, cool, cool…what takeaway, takeout, do you want? Pizza, Chinese, Indian, Korean, Lithua-.” 

“Chinese. I mean, Chinese please.” 

“Cool, anything in particular?” David shrugged. “I’ll tell Regina to pick up our usual, a bit of everything. Get some rest and think about what sort of thing you want to watch.” 

Once he left David kicked off his shoes and sat on his bed. He looked over at the bags knowing that he should unpack them so they wouldn’t get all creased but before he knew it he had fallen asleep, still not quite believing that Killian had bought him so much. 

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

David woke with a start, he quickly scrubbed his eyes, trying to wipe away any memories of nightmares or memories which hadn’t yet dissolved from his brain. He couldn’t remember even falling asleep, he stared dumbly at the mountain of bags near and on his desk for a few minutes before realising that he had fallen asleep for a while. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, it took him a minute to be able to read it through the smashed screen, it was a lot later than it had been. He flicked away a message from his friend, Kris, he hadn’t talked to him in a long time, not since Kris had moved out of a home they had both been in. He’d talk to him later. 

He pushed himself up and took a swig of juice out of the bottle he had been given the night before. Feeling immediately hydrated. 

He wandered over to the bags, grabbed them, and threw them onto his bed, he hunted through them, his jeans had stiffened during his nap, or at least that was how it felt. He switched them for a pair of sweatpants, dumping the jeans into the bag with the clothes he had put on first thing that morning. He had only had a couple of pairs of clothes that morning, now he had what seemed like a mountains worth of them. 

He carefully started to unpack the clothes, he stuffed underwear and socks into the chest of drawers, along with the new, pyjamas, sweaters and t-shirts. It had been so long since he had owned brand new clothes, he felt stupid that he was almost scared that his hands would be too grubby to touch them. He pulled out the brand new school uniform, he was even more nervous about making this messy  _ at all _ , he wondered if everyone at the school would be able to tell that he was on scholarship and that all his clothes had been bought by the school. 

He hung up the few pairs of khaki pants, the long sleeved white shirts, two deep blue v-neck sweaters with a crest on them in his closet along with a blazer in the same colour with the same badge on the left pocket. He draped the tie around the collar of the blazer so he wouldn’t lose it by next week. He left his school shoes boxed and placed them on a shelf in his closet next to his boxed sneakers just for gym. He hadn’t had sneakers just for school before, hell he hadn’t had brand new shoes which weren’t hand me downs at all. He placed boxes of slip-ons, boots, and sneakers (which Killian insisted on him having and needing), on the floor of the closet. His shorts, sweatpants, polo shirt, sports undershirt, hoodie, and swim trunks were placed in their respective gym and swim bags respectively. 

 

* * *

  
  


Soon his closet and drawers were nearly full, he was adding his jackets and coat into his closet when he heard the gentle knock on his door and Killian entered. 

“Hey, lad, I didn’t realise you were awake yet, I kept checking on you… you should have let me know you were doing this, I would have helped you.” 

“It’s okay.” David stuck his head out of the closet to look at Killian. He gave him a small smile when he saw he felt bad about not doing so. “Honestly, all the clothes are done, it’s just the books and stuff, and stuff for the bathroom, you really didn’t have to buy me all this y’know?”

Killian rolled his eyes. “Honestly David, like I said before, you need things like this, partially so you don’t drive me mad.” He joked, showing he didn’t mean it. “You need any help?”

“Nah, I’m just gonna find places for all them.” He gestured to the bags on the bed. “I’m not sure where to put, erm, the clothes I was wearing.”

“Oh, erm shit, I meant to put it on the list, we’ll get you a laundry basket when we get things for your room, in the meantime if you give them to me I’ll stick them in the wash, I’ll stick your shampoo and shower gel in the bathroom for you now.” He took the bag with both things in from David. “You still want chinese?”

“Yeah, please. And thanks again.” 

“You don’t have to keep saying thank you, lad, honestly.”

“... It’s probably just because I’m sick. I’ll be an asshole to you again when I’m better.”

“ _ Hey _ , language.” 

“You said ‘shit’ literally ten seconds ago.” He protested, his hands spread out, and laughter in his voice.

“That’s different.” Killian laughed. 

“Dictator.” 

“Get used to it. So, chinese, yeah? Good, Gina’s bringing it now, you decided on what movies you want to watch?” 

“Maybe…. Jurassic Park? Or whatever.” 

Killian grinned. “That’s a good choice, I have them all, I’ll set them up soon. You sure you don’t need any help?”

“Thanks, Killian, but I’m good.” A mischievous grin appeared on his face. “You’ll probably just mess it up.”

Killian made some sarcastic comment about teenagers as he left the room.

 

* * *

 

 

David shut the closet and the dresser and started to work on the other bits. His new set of recreation books went on the bookcase near the door, and his educational books went on the shelves above his desk, flicking through a few as he did so, he left a couple on his desk, he’d flick through them later, perhaps he’d write his essay on one of them. 

He heard the front door open for Killian’s friend, only a little away from his own room, in between his own coughing. He thought for a second about leaving his room to introduce himself, but he chickened out at the last minute, instead he focused on putting away his new art supplies; paints, pencils, sketch pads, etc, and the fidget spinner and cube, though he wasn’t sure why Killian had laughed as he had put them into the cart yet insisted on David having them. 

 

* * *

  
  


“Hey there.” David’s head shot around. “I’m going to guess you’re David.”

He could smell the chinese take out and felt his stomach rumble. “Hey, erm, yeah, yeah I am, are you, I mean you’re-” 

“-Regina, or Gina. Killian’s been telling me all about you. Don’t worry it wasn’t anything bad. I also have something for you.” For a minute Regina wondered if Killian had taught David to look a little scared when she said things like that, Killian always did too, but she didn’t see a context where Killian could have explained exactly why he always looked worried. “I heard you got into Willow Park.” 

David half shrugged. “I think Killian might have bribed them to get me in.” 

“ _ Don’t scare the boy!” _ Killian shouted through from the kitchen but both Regina and David ignored him.

“Killian was telling me about your scores, I don’t think he needed to, and I don’t think he’s as influential as he thinks he is.” She watched David smirk and let out a little chuckle. She held up the gift bag in her hand. “So I brought you a hand me down I’ve not used it but I won it at a work thing, and a little gift, mostly for having to put up with Kil.” 

David laugher again and rubbed the back of his neck but accepted the gift bag, he didn’t want to be rude, he glanced inside and his eyes widened. “This is, this, I can’t take-”

“-You’re not taking it, I’m giving it to you. Honestly I already have one which is better and I have all my things on, honestly you’re doing a favour by taking it off my hand, otherwise my sister is just going to try and steal it, and I know she’d just sell it and spend the money on god knows what. There’s also a couple of gift cards in there, I’m not sure what guys your age life, so I guessed what places you could use them at.” 

“I- Thank you. Thank you so much.” David knew that some people would have refused to accept it, would have said that they don’t take charity, he had seen that enough in movies, but David wondered if the people who wrote the lines knew what it was like to truly have absolutely nothing. He leant back against his desk looking inside of the the gift bag properly, he brought out the box for the brand new Macbook Air, and a couple of gift cards, for some gaming site David knew of, and for Itunes. It was a lot, a big gift, even if she really didn’t want her sister to have it. 

Regina gave him a reassuring smile, that they didn’t have to talk about any of it, instead she continued flicking through the books on David’s desk. “Are these for school?” 

“Yeah- I prefer Hamlet to Romeo and Juliet, to be honest, but I guess Shakespeare’s alright.”

Regina hummed in agreement. “‘To be or not to be’… I always liked the one with all the witches in myself, Macbeth.” 

“That’s ‘cause you’re part witched.” Killian entered the room with a smirk, he was paid back for his comment by Regina playfully hitting his chest. “You okay, lad?”

David nodded then nodded against more certainly. “Yeah, thanks again Gina- Regina.” 

“You can call me Gina if you like. Now, have we got the chinese and the movie sorted?” 

Killian led Regina and David to the couch, he and Regina got settled next to each other their crossed legs both touching, while David took the seat on Killian’s other side. On the coffee table was a feast of pretty much every dish available from Panda express as well as bowls of chips and candy and chocolate covered pretzels.

 

* * *

 

 

The trio tucked into the feast, watching Jurassic Park on the tv, at first quietly, but soon David and Regina were joking around about the fact that Killian couldn’t handle food with any form of spice on it, Killian didn’t mind as David was smiling and laughing. Soon Regina had assured them that she would go with the pair of them to pick items for David’s room, claiming that Killian would end up buying only Navy themed things. The three of them talked about books, and the movie and other ‘classics’, and David found himself divulging a little about himself, his life before Killian’s, it was just him telling them some good places around the city to eat, but telling them how he used to be given food for free felt like he was admitting something, even if they already knew he had been homeless with no means to survive other than theft or charity. 

 

* * *

 

 

Halfway through the second movie David had fallen asleep, in a small food coma, leaning against Killian’s shoulder. Killian didn’t move him, Regina covered the teen with a throw from the back of the couch, and then leant against Killian on his otherside, his arm wrapped around her and head rested on her head, he couldn’t believe that only a couple of days before they had been sleeping together, casually, and truthfully this was just as fulfilling to him, she was his best friend, he was always happier with her around. 

 

* * *

 

 

When the movie finished David was still asleep against him and Regina was still curled up to him. He watched her stretching, she always reminded him a little of a cat when she did that, not that it was a criticism. 

“I should get going.” 

“You sure? You could stop here.”

“You have a teenager here now-”

“-Your mind is so in the gutter, I have another spare room, y’know.” 

Regina rolled her eyes, she wasn’t sure whether to believe that he had thought of it like that, but thinking about it he really did seem to care for David, she didn’t think he would want to do anything to disrupt David settling into his new home, and Regina wouldn’t either. “You’ve done good here, you know, with David.” 

“I’ve only had him a day.” He whispered. He carefully brushed the teen’s hair out of his eyes even though he was sleeping. “He needs a haircut.”

“If I remember rightly your hair used to be that long, maybe even longer, before you became a ‘boy scout’.” 

“You want me to try and find some pictures of your old hairdos?” 

“Er no. Anyway I’m going to go, you need me to do anything first?”

“Nah.” He carefully slid out from under David and helped him lie down without waking. He stood up grabbing his keys. “Nah, I got it, I’ll walk you down to your car, love.” 

  
  


* * *

 

 

David woke led on the couch, being gently shook, Killian crouching down so he was looking in his face. “Wha-?” he slurred.

“You feel asleep, lad, you’ll be more comfortable in bed though, come on.” He helped his foster son up and to his bedroom. Killian rooted around trying to find where David had his pyjamas. 

“Where’s Gina?”

“She’s gone home, we watched the end of the movie with you dozing, she promised to watch it properly with us one time.”

David let out a little chuckle, he rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly. He obviously hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but neither he not Killian minded it. “Thanks for movie night.”

“No problem, bud.” He tossed over a pair of pyjamas. “Here, you get changed and get some sleep.” He mentally checked that he had remembered to give David the last of his daily dose of medicine and remembered he had. “Night kiddo.” 

“Night Kil.” He yawned getting ready to get changed.

“Night Davey.” He said again. He gently shut the door behind him and started to tidy up the apartment. 

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

David finished getting dressed and glanced at the legal pad on his desk, it was completely blank, he had tried to start on those three essays his new headteacher had set him, but every time he picked up a pen to try and write he found that he had no idea what  _ to  _ write. He frowned as he looked at it and knew that despite having five days to hand three essays in he was screwed, he had absolutely no idea at all about what to write. He sighed and started to cough. 

“Idiot.” He muttered to himself when the small coughing fit was over, he had gotten a lot better in the past few days, but he had a feeling that if Killian heard him having too many coughing fits he’d delay getting to school, and although that wouldn’t be the worst thing he would be bored senseless if he was stuck in the apartment any longer. He caught his reflection in the tv Killian had moved into his room for him and ran his hand through his hair, maybe he’d ask Killian to take him to a barber. 

  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  


Killian had his phone pressed against his ear as he looked down the hallway, there was no sign of David, which was what he had planned. 

The phone on the other end of the call picked up. 

“Hey Mark- no, nothing’s wrong, no he’s good he’s becoming really settled and he starts school tomorrow. I was ringing about something else. David was telling me about his siblings - James,Will, and Addy, he misses them a lot, and I know that he and his sister used to write to each other but he lost track of her, I think it’d really do him good to be able to see them again, or even to write to them. Okay, thanks, yeah just let me know if you can get in contact with them, yeah we’ll see you on friday.”

 

“Who was that?” 

Killian jumped. “What? No one! No it was just…”

David smirked. “Your girlfriend?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend-?”

“Gina.” 

Killian rolled his eyes, David looked really happy with himself at winding him up, he shook his head at the teen but couldn’t help smiling. “You know karma’s a bitch, don’t you? As soon as I see you talking to a girl I’m going to give you as much hassle as humanly possible.” 

“Uh huh, sure, whatever you say old man.” David smirked but he looked away from his foster father.    
He pulled out his phone looking at the cracked screen, there was a text from Kris, he was probably David’s only friend but even he didn’t know much about him, they had grown apart in the past couple of years after leaving the same group home, but David wasn’t about to give up on the friendship, he needed at least one friend.

Killian frowned as David looked away, he had smiled and joked, but there was just something…, something more to what he had said, or more importantly what he had not said. He grabbed a couple of bowls from the cupboard and poured some cereal and milk into each he walked over and placed them on the table. “Oi, Dave, you need to have breakfast.” He fixed him with a look and the teen scowled but took his place at the table. 

“It’s David, not Dave.” 

Killian smirked. “Wait… you don’t like me calling you Dave?” He asked trying to sound surprised.

David rolled his eyes again but chuckled as he shovelled cereal into his mouth.

 

 

* * *

  
  
  


The boys had just settled in the car when Killian’s phone rang, he quickly picked it up, hoping it wasn’t Mark, he didn’t want David to know what was going on just incase getting in touch with David’s siblings didn’t work out. He sighed when he realised it was Regina.    
“Oh, it’s just you.” He rolled his eyes looking in the mirror at David who was smirking. “Yeah, yeah, I know it’s a miracle I’m single. We’re on our way to pick you up now, or I would be if you weren’t complaining to me on the phone… See you in five.” He clicked his phone off and placed it in the cupholder.

“Your girlfriend?” 

Killian playfully glared at David through the mirror. “For that I’m leaving you to the mercy of Regina.” 

David scoffed. “She can’t be that bad.” 

“... Maybe you’re still really sick-.”

“- What!? I’m fine!” 

“I don’t know… you’re clearly deluded, do you still have a fever? Do I need to check?” 

David rolled his eyes but sniggered. “She can’t be worse than you.” 

  
  
  


* * *

 

 

Ten minutes later they were pulling up outside of the posh apartment block where Regina lived. She was already waiting outside and walked towards the car as soon as it drew up. 

“You said five minutes.” 

“Oh… Well I clearly lied.”

“No you just always forget that you can’t use your blue lights to get to places when you’re running late.” She put her belt on and turned in the seat to look back at David with a smile. “Hey David, how are you feeling?” 

“I’m fine.” He resisted the urge to cough. “Not that mother hen there agrees with me.” He rolled his eyes and smiled when Regina grinned. 

“I just told you to take it easy and to make sure you take your inhaler places with you.” Killian protested, he glanced at Regina and saw creases of worry when he said about the inhaler. “And it’s his fault we’re running late, he needed a lie in.” 

“Don’t blame it on the child.” 

David slouched in the back of the car sniggering quietly, he wondered how long the two had known each other, and if they knew that they acted like an old married couple.

 

 

* * *

  
  
  
  


“Why don’t you grab a cart?” 

“Already on it Gina.” He grabbed a cart and caught up with David and Regina as they headed into the big store. 

David felt a weird feeling stirring inside of him as he watched Regina link her arm through Killian’s, David was only a step behind them, but he felt.. He wasn’t sure… part of something he guessed. He felt his heart tingle. 

He closed his eyes for a second, he remembered being small, really small,  _ his mom was holding one of his hands, his brother the other, they were in a thrift store looking at bunk beds. “Is daddy gonna live with us too?” he asked her mother, he watched her flinch though he didn’t understand why when he was so young, “No, baby, it’s going to be just me you and Jamie, our own little family, we’ll be safe.” _

David felt a hand on his shoulder, he snapped open his eyes and realised that Killian’s face was ducked down close to his, his dark eyebrows were furrowed, his face creased with worry. 

“Are you okay? Davey, you were a bit breathless then, do you need your inhaler?” 

David took a deep breath, his hand scrubbed over his face, and up into his long hair, he made it to the end of his long hair and looked up at his foster father with an easy smile. It was completely fake but he was used to putting it on, he had gotten good at it, it fooled most people. “Yeah, yeah, no I’m fine, I was just, I was just a bit tired.” 

Killian’s frown didn’t fade. “Are you sure?” 

David looked from his foster father to Regina who was looking just as worried. “Yeah, I’m fine, seriously you guys need to chill, I’m just tired.” 

“Hmm.” Killian didn’t believe him but David was insistent and stubborn, he wasn’t about to change his mind and admit if something was wrong, he was breathing normally again and he wasn’t coughing or a funny colour. “Okay, just let me know if you need a break.” 

“Okay old man you tell me if you need a break or a nap or something.” 

“Yeah, you’re fine.” Killian grumbled but at least David seemed happier. 

They started to walk through the packed store, it hadn’t been the best idea to shop on a Sunday, but Regina had insisted it would help take David’s mind off starting a new school.

“Did Killian ever tell you what happened when he moved into his apartment?”

“No?” 

Killian chuckled adding a box containing some shelves into the cart. “Well Regina told me it would be easier to order online so it could be delivered.”

“Because your car is way too small.”

“My car is a classic, and it’s cool!” Killian protested. “Isn’t it David?”

“... I think there’s no safe answer to this question.” 

Killian chuckled and clapped him on the back. “It’s normally safer to agree with Regina, I’m right, but she somehow wins anyway.” 

David laughed and Regina beamed like the cat who got the cream. 

“Anyway,” Regina continued, “we ordered the furniture online-”

“-From a website Gina found-”

“ _ And _ , the furniture came and there was something weird about it, but we had some beers and put the furniture together,”

“I mostly put it together, she mostly drank,” 

“It was only when he had put together the table and three chairs that we kind of realised that the furniture was adapted or something.”

“Adaptive?”

“She means it was for really short people, and I’m nearly six foot, so having a bed which was about half the size of me… well it wasn’t,  _ optimal _ .”

David laughed loudly.

Killian was surprised to hear such a loud laugh out of the teenager, he hadn’t been all gloomy the past few days he had been in Killian’s apartment and life, but seeing him laughing in the superstore like a normal teenager was a far throw from the teen he found in the abandoned warehouse. He found himself laughing too. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


 

It took David a while to get into shopping, he kept insisting that his room was fine as it was, he didn’t say that he had more things in this room than he had ever had before, or ask why he would need a small couch in his room as it wasn’t like he was good at making friends. 

Copying Killian’s approach and letting Regina pick things mostly helped, there were some things which he chose the colour of, others she put in the cart after catching him looking at them, and some things Killian had insisted he needed, things David wasn’t too sure, like an alarm clock (he had a phone), a rug which David didn’t really understand the need for, and a lava lamp which David had seen in those ancient movies from the 90’s and Killian  _ insisted _ every teenager needed.

They were heading down yet another, what seemed like unending, aisle, when David spotted something he actually liked the look of. He glanced at Regina and Killian who were a couple of steps ahead of him, they were bickering about whether he needed another rug and about where to go for lunch, he was pretty sure the lunch argument was the one they were more passionate about. 

So he headed off down the aisle with all the brightly coloured paperbacks. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

As soon as they hit the aisle Regina headed for the cool looking clutter knowing that her friend wouldn’t thinking about getting them, and Killian got distracted by the photo frames, he had remembered the broken ones on David’s shelves of his mom and siblings, he needed new frames. 

“David why don’t you pick where we go, I can’t handle Regina’s mexican place, yeah I know I’m a whim.” He didn’t turn around as he rolled his eyes remembering the Chinese curry incident. “Dave?” He turned around. Regina’s back facing him, her purple shirt flowing perfectly but he couldn’t think about that right now, David wasn’t by her side. He wasn’t down this aisle at all….    
“Davey!? DAVID!?” He shouted. 

Regina turned around. Her hair flicked over her shoulders as she did so, a frown was already on her face hearing the fear in Killian’s voice, it could only be caused by something major. “David?”

“He’s not here!” 

“Okay,” her eyes flickered around the aisle, scanning the few people for David’s slumped frame and long blonde hair, “Okay, erm,” she tried to remain calm, because at least one of them needed to be, “where, where did you last see him?” 

“I- I don’t know, he was here one minute, then the next he was… I was trying to surprise him with a couple of photo frames, I thought he’d be looking down this aisle, did you, did you see him?”

“I was, he just, he picked the cork board in the last aisle, I think that’s where I saw him l-last. Fuck, where did he go? Kill, Killian! What do we do? You’re a cop! Do we make an announcement?” 

That  _ actually _ helped, Killian realised. “No, no we should, we should retrace our steps, then look at aisles he’d go down, then we make an announcement.” 

So they dumped the things they were holding into the cart and headed back the way they had come. 

“He’s not down any of these, Kil, do you think he’s lost, or…?”

“No! I mean he, he wouldn’t, w-would he?” He looked to his best friend and saw something that caught his attention, drawing it completely away from what Regina’s answer to her own unasked question would be. There was a teenager with his back to them looking at books, he had that same golden hair as David, and the same way of standing as though he was trying to avoid detection.

 

Killian skidded with the cart down to the aisle which his foster son was down. “David!”

David’s head snapped to see both Regina and Killian running towards him. His eyebrows shot up, both in surprise and in amusement, the amusement disappeared when he saw the looks on their faces as soon as they got close. 

“I thought you had… I couldn’t find you!” 

David hesitated. He mouth opened a little then shut then opened again. He hadn’t thought he was doing anything bad, he still didn’t, but he didn’t think he was doing anything which would make Killian worry. “I was just looking at some books and dvds… I didn’t mean to, I didn’t, I don’t need a babysitter.” But it was all said without the usual sass or heat, he actually felt bad that he had made them look so worried. 

Killian let out a sigh. Maybe he had overreacted, a little, or perhaps a lot. “Yeah, yeah sorry, mate, I, I know you don’t need a babysitter. I just, I wasn’t sure where you were.” He cleared his throat. He didn’t mean to make David’s face fall like it had. “What were you looking at?” 

“Just some books.” 

Killian’s brows raised looking at him. “Any in particular?” 

“...Not really.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Killian frowned. He had messed this up and made David close off completely again.

Regina placed her hand on David’s back. “Oh those ones look cool.” She picked up the triple pack she had seen him holding, glanced at the back pretending to read the blurb, then put them into the cart, giving Killian a sympathetic smile as she did. David getting quiet again wasn’t his fault, or David’s, it was going to take some time. 

 

Regina encouraged the guys to put more books in the cart, and she distracted David with some art supplies while Killian snuck something else into the cart, but both the guys were pretty quiet til they were waiting to checkout.

  
  


* * *

 

 

“I, erm, I have my phone on me, y’know?… You could have rung.” 

Killian gave him a somewhat sheepish smile. “I’ve gotta admit, I didn’t actually think of that.”

David bit his lip trying not to grin or to be too much of a dick to the man who looked like he had been on the verge of a panic attack. “... I guess I shouldn’t tell Weaver that you forgot about cell phones for like a solid ten minutes?”

Killian groaned. “If you do you’re grounded, like forever, I’m serious Dave.” 

David let the ‘Dave’ nickname slide this time, because Killian had gone through a lot that day. 

  
  
  


* * *

 

 

 

David stepped under the hot spray of the shower water feeling better that he had in longer than he would admit. Regina had not long left his and Killian’s apartment, as he was slowly coming to think of it, after they had all spent the afternoon and evening sorting out his room, they hung up the few posters, put up posters, and lay down rugs. As well as putting up furniture.   
He grabbed the shampoo and lathered up his hair, swearing quietly when a section of hair fell down into his eye, stinging, he quickly shut it and washed the shampoo out of his eyes. He thought for a second about the pair of scissors they had bought that day, it wouldn’t be the first time he had cut his hair, but when he was in his old schools he had just been able to get away with wearing hats, he couldn’t do that this time due to Willow Park’s uniform code. Fuck, he’d have to ask Killian, though if he teased him about needing one David wouldn’t be happy.   
  


He eventually dragged himself out from the shower, reluctantly, and quickly dried off and changed into his pyjamas. 

  
  


* * *

 

 

 

Killian was reading one of the new books he had bought, and resting his sore muscles, when he heard David plodding into the room. He looked back watching David yawn and grab a bottle of juice from the fridge. His hair was nearly down to his shoulders and he watched David frown and push it out of his face at least three times. 

“You need a haircut.” 

“You’re full of amazing observations today.” David deadpanned. He glared over at Killian, for some reason seeing him actually reading a book was surprising, he thought the man mostly used them as decorations. “I noticed, I was gonna cut it off myself but…” he tailed off with a shrug.

“Yeah… that might not go down well in school.” David had enough to set him apart from the rest of the kids at the private school, Killian knew that just as much as anyone, he threw his paperback onto the coffee table. “I’ll take you to the barber this week.” He walked over to the dining table and grabbed two things from the table, the first was a paper gift bag, which he handed over wordlessly. 

David took it with a raised eyebrow. “What’s this?” 

“Look inside and you’ll see.” 

He looked inside and saw five different photo frames. 

“I noticed the ones you have your photographs in are broken, and pretty old, I figured you could use some new ones, if you want to keep the others you could just use the glass from these to make yours a little safer.” 

David smiled. “Thanks, Killian, that’s pretty cool of you.” 

“I’m very cool.” He insisted making David pull a face, he clearly didn’t agree that much. “Here, you’ll need this too.” 

David took the box and tore off the brown paper. “A phone?” His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. 

“Well, yours is all smashed and looks pretty old, this way it means you won’t have to charge it all the time, and you’ll need it for school.” Killian rambled. “It’s not the latest one but it should do the trick.”

“It’s awesome.” He told him assuredly, quieting his rambling. “ _ Really _ . And for the frames, and everything in my room. It’s all awesome. Thanks Kill’.” 

“It’s no problem.” He saw his look. “Seriously David, it’s no problem, this is your home now, and you need things like a properly working phone, y’know in case I lose you again.” He smirked, putting him at ease with humour. 

“Well, thanks.” He was quiet for a second. “I think I’m gonna try and sleep, school tomorrow and stuff.”

“Okay, night Davey.” 

“David.” 

“See you bright and early!” He called after him laughing at the loud groan he received in return.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been a while but I hope you all enjoy this! :)


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